Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been summoned by a Mumbai court after a defamation complaint was filed against him for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi “commander-in-thief” during his speech last year.

With his slogan “Chowkidar chor hai”, Rahul Gandhi had maintained to label PM Modi as a “thief” in his speeches and tweets. Before 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the opposition picked up on the Rafale issue alleging the government of crony capitalism.

Rahul Gandhi, who was Congress President then, had accused the Prime Minister of being “directly involved” in the Rafale jet deal and giving the contract to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence, even the news reports published by the media suggested the same.

Over Rahul Gandhi’s “commander-in-thief” remark against PM Modi, a Girgaum resident and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker – Mahesh Shrishrimal (43) – filed a defamation complaint against the Congress leader stating that such remarks are not only an insult to the Prime Minister but also party workers.

The summon was issued on August 28 by Girgaum metropolitan magistrate which directed the Congress MP from Wayanad to appear before the court on October 3, either in person or through his lawyer.

The Congress leader is already facing two defamation cases in Maharashtra which have been filed by RSS
workers.
In Bhiwandi, Gandhi is facing trial over
blaming RSS for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. In Mumbai, a case was filed against the Congress leader for linking the murder of Journalist Gauri Lankesh with “RSS-BJP ideology”.